SITE REVIEW: steve`s site

steve0

Student

Posts: 82

3+ Months Ago

this is my site, ive tried to make it as simple as possible to navigate, but im not sure about the main menu. the idea was that i made a humor site with funny video`s texts etc. family friendly and all that. i know the main logo at the top is missing, i`m still working on that.
what do you think?
(any comments on the content would also be welcome.)

http://www.stephen-hunter.com

thanx

steve0

613flavah

battlestar

Posts: 3289

Loc: Hurricane...

3+ Months Ago

hi there

Some comments:

Your mouseover script works flawlessly in IE but in all the other browsers I tested (FF, NS & Opera - all latest versions of course) the script doesn't look the same as in IE. You should make sure you're using a cross browser compliant script. Same goes for the top right hand scrolling temperature thingy, a bg colour appears in IE but not the other browsers.

Also the mouseover colour on the titles in the middle frame are not very visible against the red text. I'd suggest changing the blue mouseover colour or getting rid of it all together.

I think you should move your login info up to the top.

Are you going to name your site something else besides "steve's site"?

Good contact section!

Great use of keywords!!!

steve0

Student

Posts: 82

3+ Months Ago

i didnt think of that.
"steve`s site" does sound a bit boring i guess, though i have no idea what else to name it.
any suggestions?
as for the browser problems, i have a problem in firefox too with the streaming video`s. they... well.. simply dont work because firefox doesnt support activeX. ive been struggling with this for a while and have come to the conclusion that as most people use explorer, i`ll just stick with that until mozilla etc. come up with a plugin that supports it.
ithe only other way around it is to convert all the streaming video clips from .MWV to .MOV (which increases the filesize like nobodys buisness, i also loose quality.
i reckon therefore, i`ll just stick with embedded .wmv

CHEERS

Steve0

Truce

Guru

Posts: 1473

Loc: Washington DC

3+ Months Ago

Why are you forcing embedded videos on people? I think the only people that do that anymore are porn sites.

As for the site, it is a little crowded, even on 1024x768. I don't even want to imagine it on anything smaller!

You have this in your keywords: "&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp." Why?

You need to optimize your code! Your site takes ~17 seconds to load on a 56k modem! The total size of your external CSS is 8381 bytes! Cut it down by hand coding/optimizing! Mambo doesn't optimize very well! Your home page alone is 32kb! My site's main page is only 5kb! OPTIMIZE YOUR SITE TO LOAD FASTER! The total size of your home page, including the images etc. is 86kb!
The template is alright, but if you are gonna use a template, Why not use one that really works?

steve0

Student

Posts: 82

3+ Months Ago

firstly, ive found that people prefer embedded video, if it was normal video with service pack 2, instead of the video opening in the window on the left hand side, you would get a message asking if you wanted to open the file, or save it to disk.
you can get around that with explorer setting, but for the average joe who doesnt want to be messing with his system just to view one site, i found this was the best solution.
yes, the front page is a bit crowded, im going to get rid of a couple of modules and maybe make the section icons smaller too.
the words"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp." in the keywords, is a bug, ive tried to remove it loads of times, but i cant seem to erase it, i just goes back to the way it was.
as far as customising my code goes, thats easier said than done seeing as im not a programmer. that was why oi chose mambo, so that i wouldnt have to deal with that.
any tips on how i might do this?

"The template is alright, but if you are gonna use a template, Why not use one that really works?"

i dont understand???
why doesnt it work?

613flavah

battlestar

Posts: 3289

Loc: Hurricane...

3+ Months Ago

steve0 wrote:

the words"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp." in the keywords, is a bug, ive tried to remove it loads of times, but i cant seem to erase it, i just goes back to the way it was.

What are you using to code your site?

steve0

Student

Posts: 82

3+ Months Ago

mambo does it all, i put the meta info in the backend under global. its weird, i`ll try adjusting it again in an hour or so when i have time

cheers

steve0

steve0

Student

Posts: 82

3+ Months Ago

ok is that better?

613flavah

battlestar

Posts: 3289

Loc: Hurricane...

3+ Months Ago

I don't see any improvements visually. Looks the same as before. (Haven't looked at backend)

steve0

Student

Posts: 82

3+ Months Ago

i adjusted the meta info and managed to get rid of that weird text..

steve0

Student

Posts: 82

3+ Months Ago

thanx for all the hints and tips folx.
i will be working some more on it as soon as i get some time!!

cheers

steve0

rtrev64

Beginner

Posts: 38

3+ Months Ago

I am at yours now. hmmm you would have to do something about your 'shout it ' box you have because you have a jerk in their running off family types with abusive language.

It appears all your buttons are in order and everything is in order. Good...looks like a lot of fun.
I will book mark this page but do something about the abusive language in the 'shout it' box or people will not want to read that.

otherwise-great website.

PS after reading the responses about your website from readers here. I am an amature....barley.

steve0

Student

Posts: 82

3+ Months Ago

ok, yea, i just saw it, but i had a tracker running in the background, so know who it is. (and i think they do too)
thanx for letting me know, and thanx for the feedback, ive only been doing this for a few months and the site is no where near what i want it to be. i guess its all practice and trial and error.
the shout it box should be (more or less) fixed now.

steve0

rtrev64

Beginner

Posts: 38

3+ Months Ago

Because I am sure you would not want to go to a site to see profanities thrown around all the time and not where everyone can read it even if they are not trying to.

Good move to get rid of that problem.

Hey check out mine and give me your thoughts

http://www.roberttrevino.com

steve0

Student

Posts: 82

3+ Months Ago

it aint bad mate, nice and simple.
a couple of things though, i would change the font colour fron red to black, and make the text window slightly bigger.
love the buttons though, and an online garage sale? brilliant idea!!
keep it up

steve0

rtrev64

Beginner

Posts: 38

3+ Months Ago

I am not a programer the front page and all the pages that are linked are free templatesto get to the garage sale that is my page but everything else is the free template.

did you like my music page?

elrayjones

Novice

Posts: 21

Loc: Texas,Wise Co

3+ Months Ago

you have content, but i can't make since out of your header. to me the header is very important, it's the first thing one sees.

steve0

Student

Posts: 82

3+ Months Ago

yes youre right, i do have to get a header in there.
i will try to make one this week sometime.
thanx

steve0

steve0

Student

Posts: 82

3+ Months Ago

oh BTW if you re reading this truce, i cant understand why you visited my site, swore on the chatbox, saying that my site was "f**king *plum*", just because you couldn't deal with the criticism i gave your site.

quote from your PM to me:

""You have absolutely no reason to think you can bag on anybody's work because you have none that you are proud enough of to show anybody. ""

it was constructive criticism..

And to prove even more how childish you are being, you had to add this golden nugget :

""PS: I get emails from girls daily wanting to meet me because of that page with my "bad-shampoo" pic. ""

say no more, i consider you a silly little man - ( i have you down at between 15 & 18 years old) - who cant take constructive criticism and has to resort to written abuse on my site, this is UNACCEPTABLE from a so called proffesional.
You are an extremely arrogant person who, in my opinion, will not get anywhere in life if you feel you have to belittle other peoples work and go round with your self important attitude thinking that you are better than anyone else.

love
steve0

Truce

Guru

Posts: 1473

Loc: Washington DC

3+ Months Ago

"forget learning spanish, french, and all that other stuff and take yourself to graphic design school."

This is coming from you, who didn't even design your own site. Wonder why I am arrogant?

steve0

Student

Posts: 82

3+ Months Ago

well ive already passed a graphic design exam, i just havent the time to go full on with a website, thats the reason i chose to use mambo and one of their templates. i found it fast to implement and not too hard on the eye. the templates can be customeised further down the line.
i was more interested in feedback from the content point of view, if it was good or bad or mediocre etc.

so there you go.

thanx to all who pointed out the good & the bad, its taken onboard and i`ll try to fix it when i get time.